Notice: This issue was resolved in NovaBACKUP 21.1.1219 and newer versions, so please upgrade to at least that version to fix this issue.
How to work around the ".json file is too big, 10mb max size" backup log error (that will lead to a failed backup) in NovaBACKUP 21.1.903 (this issue only affects a single version, which is 21.1.903, and will be fixed in a new version by December 2024). The following workaround instructions are for fixing the *.json file is too big, 10mb max size" backup log error that can be seen for file backup jobs that do utilize either the 'Local Backup' or the 'Cloud Backup' device types that were added in 21.x (it can also affect Hybrid enabled file backup jobs as well) in NovaBACKUP 21.1.903 (21.1 public release) only (which affects both the full seed and incr. runs in the same way); and out of 100 customer environments running that client version this issue may only affect around 5% of the clients (and typically only if the entire C: OS drive is what was selected to backup to those two device types in that case). This backup log error issue, that is the cause of the failed backup job status, will only be seen if you backup to those modern backup device types above, which may cause a failed backup to occur, and that error will be seen in the resulting backup log in that case. The instructions are only to do with that one problem, which will only be seen in 21.1.903 (the 21.1 public release). The backup log error will look like this in that case, if this problem is hit:
To work around this problem for now (we will be releasing a new version that does fix this client problem by mid-October 2024), in the NovaBACKUP 21.1.903 client (only) do the following simple instructions set steps, to manually modify the default exclusions file (nsexc.ini):
Simple method instructions (that will work for most people):
- Run the NovaBACKUP 21.1.903 client (the only version that has this problem, to confirm your version go to the Help > About dialog first if you are unsure of the installed version in that case to verify it).
- Click to the Default Settings area (at the very top left of the client as the large circle "NovaStor" logo button, click on that button)
- Click the Advanced Options tab.
- Click on the "Edit default exclude filter" button at the bottom of the "Advanced Options" dialog and that will open up a notepad session with the file "nsexc.ini" loaded (opened) in it.
- Remove (delete) all of the "exclude" statements (lines of text) in that entire section, starting with the "[exclude]" line of text, and all the way down to the last line of text in that file, and delete all of that text content out, and then save the file and then exit notepad.
- Then click OK in the "Advanced Options" dialog that is still open to close the settings completely.
- After that change then your next backup job that runs (that uses a Local Backup device, or a Cloud Backup device) should no longer lead to failure just due to the same "*.json file too big, 10mb max size" error in the backup log after that (because it is no longer reading any of the exclude based path statements in the nsexc.ini file since you removed them all).
A screenshot of how the above simpler instruction set looks like is below, which is before the removal of the entire blue highlighted text in that file starting at the "[exclude]" line of text, and ending with the "path.item.18" line of text at the very bottom to delete out of that file and save the nsexc.ini file after that and you are done:
Optional method instructions, in case you want to make a copy of your original nsexc.ini file, or if the simple instructions method did not work for you:
You may want to make a copy of your existing nsexc.ini file, in case you have any custom excluded paths in it, to reference later or place back as entries later after we fix this problem in a newer version, so to do that you can use these additional optional instructions. These optional instructions are also for those customers that do not want to utilize the backup client UI "Default Settings" method of simpler instructions above in that case to make the same changes to work around this issue.
- Use Windows Explorer to navigate to this folder on the client machine (this is the standard location, yours may differ if you have your Operating System installed on a different drive letter than C:): 'C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\Profiles\'.
- Locate the file named "nsexc.ini" file in the above folder, and if you do not have "Show file extensions" turned on in Windows Explorer, the file may be listed without the extension on it, as "nsexc" then.
- Use WIndows Explorer to right-click and copy that "nsexc.ini" file in place in the same folder to make a backup copy of it there, you can leave it as the default "nsexc.ini - Copy" filename if you wish, or you can rename it to something else; this is your backup of that existing file (to reference later if needed, especially if you had any custom excluded path entries in it already, not just the standard set of exclusions). Make sure that the original file is left in place though as "nsexc.ini" file.
- Edit that "nsexc.ini" file using notepad.exe or whatever replacement text editor that you have (we recommend "Notepad++" or the "EmEditor" free notepad.exe replacement apps, but that is completely optional).
- Remove all of the "exclude" statements in that entire section starting with the "[exclude]" line of text in it, and then save the file and then exit notepad.
- After that change then your next backup job that you run (that uses a Local Backup device, or a Cloud Backup device) should no longer lead to failure just due to the same "*.json file too big, 10mb max size" error in the backup log after that (because it is no longer reading any of the exclude based path statements in the nsexc.ini file since you removed them all). You will verify that is the case by viewing the backup log for the next backup run that you do to know if this problem is resolved. And just know that we will be releasing a new version that does fix this client problem by mid-October 2024.
For reference, this is what the default original (stock) set of exclusions would look like, without any custom exclusions added to it (and if your own existing nsexc.ini file path.item statements do not end in a trailing backslash "\" character like these entries do then don't worry about that, as it will make no difference to the stated problem):
;-------------------------------------------------------------
;
; This config contains the globally excluded items. With this
; list, the items listed will still show up in the selection
; trees but will not be selectable. Use with caution as this
; file will be updated with each update of the software.
;
;-------------------------------------------------------------
[exclude]
path.numberOfItems=19
path.item.0=%systemdrive%\pagefile.sys\
path.item.1=%systemdrive%\hiberfil.sys\
path.item.2=%systemroot%\debug\
path.item.3=%systemroot%\prefetch\
path.item.4=%systemroot%\temp\
path.item.5=?:\recycler\
path.item.6=?:\recycled\
path.item.7=?:\$Recycle.Bin\
path.item.8=?:\$RECYCLE.BIN\
path.item.9=?:\$RECYCLED\
path.item.10=*\ntuser.dat.log\
path.item.11=*\usrclass.dat.log\
path.item.12=?:\System Volume Information\
path.item.13=?:\ProgramData\TempDR\
path.item.14=?:\$Windows.~BT\
path.item.15=%TMP%\
path.item.16=%TEMP%\
path.item.17=%systemroot%\WinSxS\
path.item.18=%systemdrive%\swapfile.sys\
Additional alternative paired down (smaller) exclusions entries example, that should add back in the support to exclude only the 10 most common files and folders, for the C: OS drive only, when backups run (versus making it so that no files or folders are excluded, which the two above instructions methods would implement):
If after removing all of the exclude statements (the prior instructions above) does end up working to avoid the JSON 10mb max size backup log error for you, then you may want to follow the additional optional advice to re-enable an alternative paired down (smaller) set of exclusions, that can be seen now at the very bottom of that same KB article that I had linked prior, which in that case are a smaller set of exclusion entries to add back in to the "nsexc.ini" file, to at least allow the backup client to exclude 10 of the most common files and folders that normally don't need to be backed up, such as the 'C:\System Volume Information\' and 'C:\$Recycle.Bin\' folders, and the C:\pagefile.sys (swap file) file, that if you did remove all of the [exclude] section statements prior will always attempt to backup those common file and folders, that were being excluded prior before you removed all of those path.item statements under "[exclude]" as the main work around method of resolve in that case, and those folders and files will add some unwanted size to your backups, each time that they run either as a full or as an incr. Then you would run another backup after that with the alternate paired down set of exclusions in place to see if that either works or if having these alternative paired down set of exclusions still causes the same ".json file is too big, 10mb max size" backup log error in that case; make sure that there is always a blank line after the last path.item statement at the bottom of the file in that case as well:
You can implement the alternative paired down (smaller) 'nsexc.ini' file content, that only has 10 total exclude entries instead of 19 total exclude entries, as compared to the default original (stock) set (that were stated in the example above), and in this case it will still take care to exclude 10 of the most common files and folder paths for each backup job run, as to not backup these very commonly seen file and folder items:
;-------------------------------------------------------------
;
; This config contains the globally excluded items. With this
; list, the items listed will still show up in the selection
; trees but will not be selectable. Use with caution as this
; file will be updated with each update of the software.
;
;-------------------------------------------------------------
[exclude]
path.numberOfItems=10
path.item.0=C:\pagefile.sys\
path.item.1=C:\hiberfil.sys\
path.item.2=C:\Windows\debug\
path.item.3=C:\Windows\prefetch\
path.item.4=C:\Windows\temp\
path.item.5=C:\$Recycle.Bin\
path.item.6=C:\System Volume Information\
path.item.7=C:\ProgramData\TempDR\
path.item.8=C:\$Windows.~BT\
path.item.9=C:\swapfile.sys\
Note: Please note, always make sure that there is a blank line of text at the bottom of the nsexc.ini file, after the last "path.item" line of text statement in all cases! Do not utilize any wildcard characters such as * or ? or % variable in any path.item statements that you will be custom adding back into this nsexc.ini file, because that can lead to (if for instance your entire C: OS drive is what is in the backup job selection) the same stated issue in that case! If you do want to add a custom file or folder path in as an exclude path.item statement in that file, you will have to reference the entire static path, such as path.item.10=C:\Windows\ as a complete folder to exclude, and path.item.11=C:\Windows\notepad.exe\ as a single file to exclude, both with the trailing backslash "\" character appended to the end of each statement, which should both work fine for those two examples.
I have attached the default original (stock) exclusions file, and the additional alternative paired down (smaller) exclusions file, for you to download in this KB article and then place into the correct folder (which is Step 1 in the "Optional method instruction" section) and rename that downloaded file as "nsexc.ini" (make sure that you do a right-click "Save as" function in your browser to save the file, and don't just view it): https://filestore.novabackup.com/Support/NBK21.1/nsexc.ini_default_original_set_of_exclusions_for_21.1.903.1 and https://filestore.novabackup.com/Support/NBK21.1/nsexc.ini_alternative_paired_down_smaller_set_of_exclusions_for_21.1.903.1
Notice: This issue was resolved in NovaBACKUP 21.1.1219.1 and newer versions, so please upgrade to at least that version to fix this issue.